Boyfriend has no money - Can it work?

diosadelanoche
My boyfriend is currently having a rough time financially. He's been getting fewer hours at his part-time job, and though he's been trying, he hasn't had any success finding new work. It's not that he isn't ambitious - he is, and I see how much it hurts him to not be able to support himself. That said, I feel money is putting a strain on our relationship.

I try to be understanding of his situation by walking very long distances with him when he doesn't have transportation money, and thinking up as many low-cost things to do together as possible. However, low-cost isn't free, and he so rarely has money that I pick up the tab any time we do anything at all. Even when we don't go out, we cook dinner with my groceries, watch movies on the Netflix account that I pay for so we won't be bored out of our minds, or I cave and get us a few beers or something.

The problem is that I don't make all that much money either. My budget is a little tight for one person, let alone two. I'm getting bored of sitting around watching movies all the time, and there aren't a ton of free things to do in the wintertime. Plus, though I know it's not his fault, I secretly long to go out on an actual date - even just going dutch sounds good right now. On top of that, I feel like I constantly have to defend him to my friends and family members who feel that a real boyfriend should take his girl out and buy her things.

Basically, am I doing the right thing by supporting him indefinitely, even though it's a strain on my finances? Or is this relationship doomed to failure unless he magically gets a job?
Dump him, it won't work.
You can make it work - I'll explain how in my answer.
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+1 y
I just want to clarify that I'm not judging him for his financial situation - I only care about it to the extent that it affects mine. It's easy to say money doesn't matter when you don't have to sacrifice your own financial stability.
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+1 y
Thanks for the advice everyone! I think that, in addition to dealing with my own financial hardships, I've been getting a lot of negative feedback from others that's allowed me to start to doubt myself and our relationship. We haven't been together long enough to be "in love" necessarily but I do care a lot about him. I just needed to hear from someone that I'm doing the right thing. But all of your advice has reminded me of all the reasons I've shrugged off the negativity so far. Thank you!
Boyfriend has no money - Can it work?
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